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Hi All, I've been a regular on the E46 forum for 4 years now and am considering adding an E70 to the lineup. I love the E46 and specifically am wondering about the overall reliability and general maintenance on the E70 (currently looking at 2008 models, most likely a gasser six cylinder, but maybe an eight). I've been lurking a bit and have seen numerous threads on the 19-20in wheels, so I think I've got a handle on that, but haven't seen much on DIY work anyone is doing. Questions:

1 - Any big reliability or maintenance differences between the diesel/gasser or the 3.0 vs the 4.8?

2 - I do all of the maintenance on my E46, fluids, brakes, etc. I've also done fuel filter, plugs, valve cover gasket, entire cooling system replacement, as well as the notorious crankcase ventilation valve (CVV) replacement that is one of the most difficult jobs on the E46 just short of a transmission swap. With that said, is the E70 the type that I can maintain and fix myself, or are the repairs the really nasty ones that end up needing an Indy or Dealer to look at? Or possibly very electronic in nature that need constant attention from a BMW computer? Or maybe general quality of plastics/interior/window motors, etc. that often break or fail?

3 - Looking at the entire E70 lineup, is there one specific model or model year you would target?

Thanks for any feedback... I told the E46 guys I felt weird posting over here, first post outside of E46 in 4 years and I feel like I'm cheating on a girlfriend or something.

You should atleast buy a 2009, so hopefully you have some factory warranty left.

They also went to a turbocharged engine and new iDrive system at some point, if that is important to you.

Thanks and that is basically my #2 question above, why are you recommending that a CPO warranty is important to have? Is it heavily used for E70s or is it peace of mind mostly. I had CPO on my E46 for 2 years and didn't use it once.

Thanks and that is basically my #2 question above, why are you recommending that a CPO warranty is important to have? Is it heavily used for E70s or is it peace of mind mostly. I had CPO on my E46 for 2 years and didn't use it once.

The E70 is vastly more complex than a E46 or even the E83 and repairs tend to be expensive and occasionally hard to fix and/or diagnose. There's a limited amount of DIY and a lot of computer-based systems that when they don't work right, can cause massive headaches (do a search for battery drain). For instance, even replacing the battery requires "registration", going to an indy or dealer to tell the vehicle's charging system that you've installed a new battery. Then you've got an electronic gearshift, electronic handbrake, many controls accessible only thru iDrive, etc......this ain't much of a DIY car.

Personally if I ever wanted a large SUV, I'd look elsewhere (at the risk of being flamed by everyone here). And if I had to have a E70, I wouldn't own one outside of warranty.

The E70 is vastly more complex than a E46 or even the E83 and repairs tend to be expensive and occasionally hard to fix and/or diagnose. There's a limited amount of DIY and a lot of computer-based systems that when they don't work right, can cause massive headaches (do a search for battery drain). For instance, even replacing the battery requires "registration", going to an indy or dealer to tell the vehicle's charging system that you've installed a new battery. Then you've got an electronic gearshift, electronic handbrake, many controls accessible only thru iDrive, etc......this ain't much of a DIY car.

Personally if I ever wanted a large SUV, I'd look elsewhere (at the risk of being flamed by everyone here). And if I had to have a E70, I wouldn't own one outside of warranty.

Good thoughts, thanks. So lines up with the E90 it seems in terms of maintenance from an electronic angle at least. I'm guessing no dipstick on the E70 either?

Everybody says 'those new cars are more complex than the old ones, impossible to DIY or have indys work on them"...been saying it in the 1980s, 1990s, the 2000s and the 2010s...

Plenty of DIY work, software will be available, I would not be overly concerned. As a DIYer yoy will be vastly more prepared than most owners who are looking to get into a used X cheap, but will be paying through there a$$es for maintenance and repairs.

Having said that a CPO or BMW Gold plan would be a nice 'major medical' policy to have up to 6/100. Stuff not covered by that you can do. Loved my 2010 diesel, love my 2012 diesel..

Hi All, I've been a regular on the E46 forum for 4 years now and am considering adding an E70 to the lineup. I love the E46 and specifically am wondering about the overall reliability and general maintenance on the E70 (currently looking at 2008 models, most likely a gasser six cylinder, but maybe an eight). I've been lurking a bit and have seen numerous threads on the 19-20in wheels, so I think I've got a handle on that, but haven't seen much on DIY work anyone is doing. Questions:

1 - Any big reliability or maintenance differences between the diesel/gasser or the 3.0 vs the 4.8?

2 - I do all of the maintenance on my E46, fluids, brakes, etc. I've also done fuel filter, plugs, valve cover gasket, entire cooling system replacement, as well as the notorious crankcase ventilation valve (CVV) replacement that is one of the most difficult jobs on the E46 just short of a transmission swap. With that said, is the E70 the type that I can maintain and fix myself, or are the repairs the really nasty ones that end up needing an Indy or Dealer to look at? Or possibly very electronic in nature that need constant attention from a BMW computer? Or maybe general quality of plastics/interior/window motors, etc. that often break or fail?

3 - Looking at the entire E70 lineup, is there one specific model or model year you would target?

Thanks for any feedback... I told the E46 guys I felt weird posting over here, first post outside of E46 in 4 years and I feel like I'm cheating on a girlfriend or something.

I have owned a 1999 328i (E46) and currently own a 2007 X5 4.8i (E70). I can't speak to self maintenance as I've reached a point in my life where I'm willing to pay someone to perform maintenance / repairs. The X5 is a little more expensive for some things merely because it's "bigger". For example replacing the spark plugs was more costly because there were 8 of them as opposed to 6. At $25 per plug that was an additional $50 alone.

As for the reliability I haven't owned my 2007 very long...purchased it in October of last year. I've put about 6,000 miles on it in that time. It's been reliable and I have no concerns it will be any less reliable than my 328i (or the previous E53 X5's I've owned along with the 2006 330xi).

Engine wise I hear people say the smaller engine has less problems but I've never seen any definitive support for it. I've owned the 4.4i and 4.8i X5's and the power trains have been solid with them. I suspect the thought is the higher torque and HP of the bigger engine puts more stress on the power train.

As for model year the general school of thought is the later the model year in any production run the more bugs have been worked out. I've pretty much owned the first model year of the E36, E46, E53, and E70 and have not had any significant problems with any of them. More problems on the E53 but that's likely due to higher mileage (bought it with 108K miles).

My current X5 is a 2007 4.8i and I love it. Have no concerns about its reliability (mechanic says it's in great shape) but it does have low miles on it at roughly 41K. I opted not to buy an extended warranty for it...I trust it will be fine. I did have one issue with a seal leaking for which BMW paid 2/3 of the repair cost even though it was out of warranty (it was approximately a $1,000 repair). Even had I paid the entire amount out of pocket I'd still be ahead.

If you'd like to discuss more send me a PM and I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have about either of them.

My 2008 X5 is going out of warranty next month, and I'm concerned about it.

"Name some of this DIY work"????????? ANYTHING that involves wrenches, screwdirvers, hand tools--engine replacement, transmiussion replacement...go down from there!! Why do people draw a distinction between "dealer" and "diy"?? I am as good a wrencher as the dealer- slower, but probably more careful, and only limited by special tools. (Which I can rent, borrow, fabricate or **** as needed or as my interest dictates.)

A few floating around that may work, now or in the future.... (I use GT1/DIS/INPA on my E39)

GT1/DIS/Progman/SSS/Wintfk
INPA and DIS

PA Soft BMW Scanner 1.4.0

The limit with these cars- currently- will be programming of the software currently controlled by BMW. I do not know how they will make this available to indies.

Quote:

Originally Posted by blue dragon

Time to sell it! Oh no, its out of warranty! People said the same thing about the E46 and 100k.

I had a 1990 q45...same fears and issues. By 2000 people had figured it all out.

The limit with these cars- currently- will be programming of the software currently controlled by BMW. I do not know how they will make this available to indies.

This is the problem.

We don't go to the dealership at all outside of warranty. Always an indy shop for us, which can be a problem when there's constraints on the availability of the proper diagnosis equipment.

Back a few years ago with the X3, we were pretty committed to keeping it long-term and that's because the E46 wasn't too hard to fix outside of warranty, so the E83 wouldn't be that different. But geez with my mother's E90.......it's been fairly reliably and a great car, but once the new Audi A3 TDI comes out, we're jumping ship because the maintenance and repairs on that car can be finicky. As if the ZF automatic gearbox fluid isn't expensive enough.....

My only comment is to skip the 3.0i, as you'll probably find it underpowered. Although I suspect it would be very reliable since it's a carryover from the E53 and E46.

Personally I don't have any angst about owning a BMW out of warranty. If problems show up during the warranty then you'll have problems post-warranty and should take that as a sign to sell. Cars I've owned that had minimal problems during the warranty period were very reliable post-warranty, BMW's included.

You'd have to hit some serious problems to make buying a new car vs repairing an old one more cost-efficient in any case.

All great comments, thanks. What I'm not seeing (and is a good thing) is comments around big issues that plague a specific model like E90s, e.g. the fuel pumps on the E90 335s. The E46 is a great example of a very reliable car, but for example, we know that the cooling system will start to fail around 70k-100k miles, does that make it unreliable, I don't know but I also know I can replace a water pump, tensioner, t-stat, expansion tank, etc. on my own for cheap so I don't really care.

I'm guessing the brakes/rotors get replaced at the same time, similar to other Bimmers?